Chen Kaige's Peking Opera-themed movie Mei Lanfang: Forever Enthralled has revived the traditional art form for a wider audience. No longer is it only the old generation and loyal Peking Opera fans who attend. Young people who enjoy pop culture are also among its followers.

With this in mind, the National Peking Opera Company will present two shows featuring an all-star-cast and popular Peking Opera arias at the Forbidden City Concert Hall during the Spring Festival.

The program will feature the four famous schools of the Dan (female) roles: Mei, Shang, Cheng and Xun. Among them, Mei Lanfang (1894-1961) was the founder of the Mei school. The show will also feature the four famous schools of the Sheng (male) roles: Ma, Tan, Yang and Xi.

It is traditional in Peking Opera for men to play the female roles, so the four most famous Dan performers have all been men, including Mei.

Less and less male actors have played the female roles in recent years and among them, Wen Ruhua is extraordinary. Born into a Peking Opera family in 1947, his grand-father Xi Xiaobo is one of the four most famous old male performers. Wen began to learn Peking Opera when he was 11 and later learned from Zhang Junqiu (1920-1997), specializing in young female roles.

In Chen Kaige's 1993 Golden Palm Award movie Farewell My Concubine, Wen sang the arias in the soundtrack for the character Cheng Dieyi, a Peking Opera actor who performs female roles.

7:30 pm, Jan 26, 27

Inside Zhongshan Park

6559-8285

中山音樂堂

(China Daily January 24, 2009)